In the Eyes of Sanaki
by ChocolateAntelope
Summary: (Takes place in that scene right after chapter 13.) Sanaki's point of view of when Ike, Soren and the others find her. "I remained silent, knowing of your ignorance. But I can no longer tolerate your behavior. PREPARE YOURSELVES, PEASANTS!" :D


A person of my status, hiding in some vessel's storeroom, was absolutely unacceptable. Next time, Sigrun and her holy guards ought to make haste! Yes, it's true that Tanith has told me time and time again not to roam about the seaports, as they are brimming with "pirates and crow-thugs". But they were taking too long and there was nothing to do, so I ordered the longshoremen to set sail without them. Besides, they can catch up with their Pegasi.

I had to wait out the battle in near darkness in this nest of a cellar. I could hardly see anything! If there were any rats and vermin holed up with me in this ship, I would personally see to it that its captain and crew would be dismissed.

Even surrounded by the bottles of wine, boxes of fruit, and barrels of water, they did little to mute the battle raging above me. The constant shouting, cawing, and running, and thudding was giving me a headache! How long could it take for the soldiers to eliminate the enemy? I was feeling quite cramped, uncomfortably sitting behind a large crate. There was no telling how long I was in here. And where were the holy knights?

Over time, the din of war diminished, until there was nearly nothing at all. Was the fighting over? I decided I could leave now. After all, no one would dare try to assassinate me, would they?

I rose, feeling extraordinarily stiff. Some stretching would be in order. I shook out my legs and stretched my arms, feeling very silly. What if someone were to come in here as I was doing this?

My hand hit something cold and hard and knocked it over.

OH OW OW!

Tears came unbidden to my eyes as my foot-well, my toe, to be specific-was crush by the indiscernible falling object. Blood rushed into my head, worsening my headache. After the initial explosion of pain, my toe began throbbing. I was certain that it was swelling now. Curse these sandals!

However, in the midst of all that, I made not a sound. It would not be very befitting for the empress of Begnion to be crying and bellowing like an infant. But as I gingerly set my foot down, I could not hold back a gasp of pain. The injury was far worse than I had anticipated.

Where was Sigrun and Tanith? If only they'd hurried back at that port. Then I wouldn't be in this humiliating and frustrating predicament!

My ears picked up a very faint noise. Something soft and muffled by the wooden walls. It was low but steady. Then, something higher-pitched and sharp. It would appear to be two men conversing. Were they going to rescue me?

Their words became louder and louder until I could make them out.

"...yes, thank you Ike." The higher voice said to his companion.

It seemed as though one of them was named Ike. Or perhaps it was Mike? The thick walls and door prevented me from hearing clearly.

"Now, ...missing-

EMPRESS." The word was very loud. Someone must have opened the door while speaking. I had become so accustomed to the quiet that the voice came as a shock. It intensified my headache further. I shut my eyes, hoping I didn't look too pathetic while I clutched my head.

As if the blood pulsing in my head blocked off sound, I only faintly caught someone gasp, "Oh!"

"You found the empress?" The first voice asked.

"No, I don't believe so," the sharp one replied. "There's a child stowing away on our ship!"

"Another child is on our ship? ...Well this could that person Sothe was looking for."

Why did they speak so loudly? It was not helping my many pains.

"No, this is most likely some aristocrat's daughter. Probably snuck on from the Begnion vessel. She must have been frightened and in the chaos hid herself here... It was a hectic battle. Are you going to help her?"

"Well, we're not going to just leave her." Mike or Ike (I knew he was the one with the deeper voice) stepped closer to me. "Hey, are you alright?"

His blunt and abrupt manner shocked me. I blinked a few times and got a brief glance of the man. He had knelt down and _tapped me on the shoulder._ Did this foolish man not know the customs for properly addressing the empress?

This Ike or Mike frowned, his blue eyes boring into mine. A mop of blue hair was held back by his filthy bandanna. He was very burly. He was also sweaty, I noticed with my eyes and also, unfortunately, with my nose. What a ragged, unkempt man.

I swiftly back up, and collided into the wall. My fading headache flared up again. Where were my guards?! I now regretted leaving them behind. Was this man going to hurt me?

"Hey," he tried to reassure me. "Don't be scared."

That comment brought me to my senses. I was the empress. They were beneath me. I should not be acting like a witless child. I needed to keep my composure.

But a childish impulse flashed through my mind. Sephiran would not be pleased, but between ruling an empire and spending day after day with those vile senators, I needed to have some fun.

I got a closer look at him, but didn't recognize him. I feigned ignorance. "Um, who are you? You don't look like laguz," I said in an innocent childish voice. "Maybe a new recruit?"

"No," he stated, falling for my guise. "I'm a mercenary hired by Princess Elincia. So is he." Ike or Mike (he still hadn't given me his name yet!) pointed at the other man behind him.

Well, he wasn't exactly a grownup. He looked to be an adolescent. He considerably shorter than the the man in front of me. His long straight hair was tied back. It was actually a very dark green, although it looked much more black. He was pale and swathed in matching black robes. Only his eyes seemed to bear any color. They were deep red. For a second, his glaring gaze met mine. His eyes were cold and unfeeling. Suddenly, the man in front of me felt welcoming.

Upon closer inspection I saw a mark on his head. It was the same shade as his eyes. He was a Mage. The mark of the spirit charmer and his heavy robes gave him away.

I turned by attention back on the man. "The Crimean princess?" I asked in genuine surprise, before realizing I said too much. Fortunately, the mercenary didn't seem to notice. I put my foot down for balance before remembering too late. "Oh, ouch!"

"What is it? Oh, you hurt your foot, didn't you," he noticed, as if he couldn't tell from my hopping in place. "Let me see it."

"Hold. Do not approach me!" Playing along was one thing, but being treated by a commoner was too much. He ignored me and began poking my foot. "Hey! Owww! Y-you fool! You're hurting me!"

He continued prodding my toes. I continued protesting, which fell on deaf ears. The Mage continued acting apathetic.

Then, he rose up again, grabbed my waist, and _threw me over his shoulder_! "Wha-how dare you-!" I stammered incoherently. I almost kicked and hit him before remembering my condition.

"Just hush up and hold onto me," he commanded. My mouth was agape. The absolute nerve of this man! Did he think he could leave the ship after all he did to me without suffering the consequences? And that Mage merely stood by, watching me struggle in my plight.

After exiting the storeroom and traveling a little ways, I saw some people on the deck of the ship. As my eyes adjusted to the glaring sunlight, I could infer that they seemed to be looking for something. "There's my sister." My captor pointed at a girl. "She'll be able to heal that foot of yours."

"Are you trying to aid me? Shouldn't you be somewhere else?"

"I'm supposed to be looking for someone that the Begnion envoy keeps worrying about. The empress, I think."

My mouth was now agape again, for a completely different reason. His behavior made much more sense now. He didn't know I was that empress, and treated me as so. The ignorance of some people shall never cease to amaze me. Surely everyone on Tellius knew me! Before I can stop the words, they were already coming from my mouth. "Hah... I see...this is rather..."

"What is it?"

"It is nothing. In that case, I shall accept your help."

He neared the others. I could see (and smell) that they were fellow mercenaries. "Ike!" A cheerful voice chirped. So Ike was his name. A girl, though older than me, ran up to Ike. "Any luck with the search?"

"Nope," he replied. Much effort was required for me to keep a straight face. "Soren and I only found a little lost kid."

Little? Kid? Excuse me? Then I recalled that he still didn't know my identity. And Soren was evidently the mage's name.

Ike carefully put me down. I stood on one foot, but the girl directed me to sit down on the grimy, wet floor while she restored my foot. She, too, poked my foot. The pain was awful, but it was nothing compared to the shame I felt, sitting on this floor, waiting to be treated by an untrustworthy healer. No doubt this peasant would be incompetent at her job.

She healed it quickly, and as I warily stood up, I found that it was as if nothing had impaired it earlier. Perhaps my evaluation of her was wrong.

"Aw, she's quite a cutie," I heard someone behind me say.

I twisted my head to get a look at this newcomer. It was yet another sellsword, this one tall with a stunningly large red braid. "Oh," she said. "Was she hurt?"

"Yeah, her toe was injured. But she also seems touched in the head," Ike commented. "Ever since we found her she kept muttering some mumbo-jumbo."

I boiled with anger. That was it! I could no longer tolerate this farce.

Loudly and clearly, I announced, "I remained silent, knowing of your ignorance. But I can no longer tolerate your behavior!"

Dumbly, Ike said, "Huh? Are you okay? Isn't your foot better?"

"PREPARE YOURSELVES, PEASANTS!"

Now everyone stared at this spectacle. Again, Ike dumbly asked, "Prepare? For what?"

Trying my best not to tilt my head too much, I stared at him in the eye. "You stand in the presence of Sanaki, empress of Begnion! The very one you were looking for! Fool!"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Until Ike (who obviously possessed horrendous ears) repeated, "Empress? Is that what she said?"

I fought to keep my composure again. Yes, you idiot, that is what I said! The woman in braids asked, "What? Then she..."

The healer gasped. "Oh, dear... Is she really...?"

How silly could these people be? Didn't they know proper etiquette? They were talking amongst themselves in obvious confusion, as if they weren't aware that I could hear them!

"No way," the Mage scoffed. His words reeked of mockery and contempt. Fools, the whole lot of them!

"Hold your horses," the braided woman said. "Even if she's tricking us, there must be a reason behind it."

"Y-you-! Ignorant...!" I sputtered. The empress, reduced to a sputtering mess due to a group of dense sellswords! Sephiran would tell me to retain my patience, that shallow anger is unbecoming of a mature girl, but I could hardly bear any more of this! My anger was completely justified. I'm sure if the Senators were here, they would be joining them in their cruelty.

Finally, _finally_, I heard a familiar voice. "Empress! Are you alright?"

I turned and found Sigrun running toward me, the Pegasus a few feet away. "You're late, Sigrun!" I snapped. "What would you have done if something happened to me, hm?"

"My apologies! I take full responsibility. We were unable to reach you, and left you in great peril. I beg your forgiveness."

The other Pegasus knights flew in. My anger evaporated with their arrival. "That won't be needed. I am also partly to blame for what has transpired."

I turned back to Elincia's mercenaries. "Rather, we should focus instead on these rescuers. Even if they weren't exactly the most... Cordial of people, they helped me through and through. I propose we invite them and their employer to visit our royal court. Then we can be sure if the one they serve is truly the princess of Crimea, as they claim."

Sigrun nodded at them. "The princess's bodyguards, I presume. I apologize for the trouble you've gone through for us and the empress."

"And you are...?" Ike inquired.

She introduced herself as the commander of the holy guards. The healer gasped and stared at me. She murmured in awe, "So it's true?"

The woman followed. "You mean to say that that little girl...?"

"Is Begnion's...?" Ike continued.

"Empress." The Mage, Soren, finished in a flat tone. He didn't sound nearly as incredulous as I'd hoped. "So it appears. I can't admit to believing it, but she seems sincere enough." I ground my teeth but said nothing.

We were taken down to the cabin to meet the princess, whom Sephiran had already confirmed to be the true heir of Crimea. But maybe another little game in good fun would be in order. There were only so many chances of fun the empress of Begnion could have.


End file.
